Grosse Pointe Blank

Some movies seem born of a tortured pun. Grosse Pointe Blank is one of these, and the coy, oh-so-hip tone of the title persists through the whole strained contrivance. Martin Q. Blank (John Cusack, looking fine in black but deluding himself as co-screenwriter) is a slick, existentially troubled hitman advised by his therapist (Alan Arkin) to take a break from his killer schedule and attend his high-school reunion in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. There he falls in love again with Debi (Minnie Driver), whom he stood up 10 years before when he abruptly fled town to begin his new life.

Martin has one last mission to fulfill in town, however, and that plus the attentions of a rival assassin, the Grocer (a porcine and charmless Dan Aykroyd), and rival classmates complicate the lovers' reunion. Director George Armitage proved his knack for balancing blitheness and brutality, absurdity and banality, in the far superior Miami Blues; here he's undone by the project's too clever pointlessness and ends up shooting blanks. Opens Friday at the Harbour Mall, Lincoln Mall, Opera House, Showcase (North Attleboro only), Tri-Boro, Warwick Mall, and Woonsocket cinemas.

-- Peter Keough